The invention relates to an apparatus for conveying mail flats in an upright position.
In mail processing machines it is necessary to convey flat items past process equipment to various end points. The selection of suitable conveying principles is determined by required throughputs, required conveying speed, formats of the items to be conveyed and permissible gaps, mainly dictated by process equipment, between two consecutive items to be conveyed.
Known systems for conveying in a vertical orientation are mainly designed for specifically classified format ranges. In machines for primarily standard letter processing these are mainly pinch-belt systems in which flats up to approx. 10 mm thick are conveyed upright, clamped between two flat belts. Aside from the thickness, a format limitation of such systems is a necessary minimum flexibility which an item must exhibit for it to be conveyed successfully.
For larger and thicker formats and items having very low bendability, such systems can only be deployed using very large gaps and lower speeds.